RFE/RL REVIEW The Best of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Reporting ----------------- April 1-14, 2006

BELARUSIAN SERVICE WAITS AT PRISON GATES...
RFE/RL correspondents from the Minsk bureau of the Belarus Service kept
watch day and night at the gates of Akrescina prison waiting for the
release of people arrested during the March 19 presidential election
and the protests that followed. April 6, the Service aired a program
about the prison, its history, former prisoners, and current capacity
and conditions. April 7, the major story was the release of former Polish
ambassador Mariusz Maszkiewicz who was arrested March 24 when security
forces attacked the tent city on October Square. The Warsaw
correspondent of the Belarus Service reported the following day on
Maszkiewicz's being reunited with his father, who held a hunger strike
in front of the Belarusian embassy in Warsaw while his son was in
prison. Maszkiewicz told RFE/RL he'd been beaten in prison and was
hospitalized most of the time
(http://www.svaboda.org/articlesfeatures/politics/2006/4/227FD736-F251-40DE-BC60-80DB2B0863BC.html).Also on April 8, the Belarus Service reported on the release of a
group of 42 prisoners being held at Akrescina. A crowd of more than 200
family and supporters from all parts of Belarus waited through the
night to greet them. RFE/RL carried interviews with some of the
released prisoners, including friends of a well known photographer from
the Homel region who had been arrested while taking photographs of the
tent city. Many of those waiting held candles, they told RFE/RL, "as a
symbol of solidarity"
(http://www.svaboda.org/articlesfeatures/politics/2006/4/7DFCF910-49D2-4323-9982-ABFAB655DA56.html).

...LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAM...
The Belarus Service launched a new weekly program, "Night Guest" on
April 8. Produced in Minsk, the first guest on the program was Andrei
Dynko, editor of the independent newspaper "Nashe Niva." Dynko was
arrested for "hooliganism" during the post-presidential election
protests in March and spent ten days in prison. Dynko answered on-air
questions and comments from listeners, sent by phone, e-mail, and SMS
messaging (http://www.svaboda.org/articlesfeatures/man/2006/4/E73A36A0-A8B5-42F4-AA6A-3ACCD64E705D.html).
The Belarus Service also continues to air daily two-minute vignettes
called "Faces of October Square," profiling residents of the tent
city and protest participants.

...ACCOMPANIES MILINKEVICH ON EUROPEAN VISITS...
A correspondent from RFE/RL's Belarus Service traveled in the first
week of April with opposition leader Alyaksandr Milinkevich to Vienna,
Strasbourg, and Berlin, reporting on Milinkevich's address to the
European Parliament on April 5. In an RFE/RL exclusive interview April
6, Milinkevich talked about the EU's extending a travel ban on top
Belarusian government officials and the EU resolution declaring the
March elections fraudulent. In Berlin, RFE/RL covered his meeting with
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on April 7. A roundtable discussion
with Polish and Lithuanian diplomats that night weighed the importance
of German support for Milinkevich and the impact of the EU visa ban.

...FIRST TO INTERVIEW MARYNICH AFTER RELEASE FROM PRISON
Mikhail Marynich, former Belarusian ambassador to Latvia and later one
of the country's best-known opposition activists, was released on
parole April 14 after serving two years in prison. He gave his first
press interview to RFE/RL's Belarus Service, saying he will not give
up, despite his poor health, which Marynich blamed on Belarusian
authorities. Marynich said he suffered a stroke in prison while being
interrogated by security forces and is now an invalid
(http://www.svaboda.org/articlesfeatures/man/2006/4/E73A36A0-A8B5-42F4-AA6A-3ACCD64E705D.html).

** The Director of RFE/RL's Belarus Service, Alexander Lukashuk, may be
reached by email at <lukashuka@rferl.org>. The Belarus Service's
website is at http://www.svaboda.org/; English-language news about
events in Belarus can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/belarus.html

RUSSIAN SERVICE FOCUSES ON RACIST ATTACKS
RFE/RL's Russian Service aired programs on the increase of hate crimes
in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities where attacks have been
reported on non-Russians (for a timeline of such incidents, see
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/4/7519D643-4B94-4A1F-856C-83324E05520F.html).
Elkhan Mirzoyev, a Russian television producer from the Caucasus, was
assaulted by a group of young men in the Moscow Metro on Sunday
(April 2). The attackers allegedly told Mirzoyev he had no place in
Russia, poured beer on him, and hit him on the head. On April 6, a
black Senegalese student was murdered in St. Petersburg. Russian and
other RFE/RL language services broadcast a report on a case involving
famous singer Zaur Tutov, who was beaten in Moscow in what he
described as a racially motivated attack on April 3. Tutov, also
culture minister of his native Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, said his
assailants shouted: "Russia for Russians, get out of here!" He was
hospitalized for a concussion and a fractured jawbone.Moscow prosecutors initially ruled out racist motives but the
Prosecutor-General's Office ordered them to reclassify the crime as an
"infliction of serious bodily injuries motivated by ethnic, racial, and
religious enmity," a charge which carries a much heavier penalty. Human
rights activist Lev Ponomaryov, head of the All-Russian Movement For
Human Rights, told RFE/RL that this suggests Russian authorities are
finally awakening to the darker side of the surge of nationalist
feeling across the country.Aleksandr Cherkasov, a senior member of the Memorial human rights
group, disagreed with Ponomarev about whether there is a new political
will to combat racial intolerance. Citing court decisions handed down
in late March concerning earlier high-profile, racially-motivated
attacks, Cherkasov said, in an RFE/RL interview: "Considering that,
after the soft sentences -- to put it mildly -- against the killers of
the Tajik girl in St. Petersburg, against the skinheads in Siberia, and
against Koptsev in Moscow, attention was drawn to this issue, here
[prosecutors] needed to backpedal. The Prosecutor's Office did what it
had to do, at least to protect its image. But the question arises: is
this a one-off step or is it actually a change? Unfortunately I would
not interpret this as a trend."

** The Director of RFE/RL's Russian Service, Maria Klein, may be
reached by email at <kleinm@rferl.org>. The Russian Service's website
is at http://www.svobodanews.ru; English-language news about events in
Russia can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/russia.html

ROMANIA-MOLDOVA SERVICE LOOKS AT DEBATE OVER SECURITATE FILES...
RFE/RL's Romania-Moldova Service extensively covered disputes about
providing public access to the files of the former Securitate and the
appointment of a national commission to investigate crimes committed
under communism. The service contacted the newly appointed chairman of
the commission, University of Maryland Professor Vladimir Tismaneanu,
who gave an exclusive interview outlining the commission's goals
(http://www.europalibera.org/rubrics/ro/2006/04/E91F0646-BFC5-4264-ADE2-1B0910451009_2187705.RAM).
Tismaneanu, a long time contributor to RFE/RL programs, is the author
of several books and studies on communism.

...PERVASIVE CORRUPTION...
Romania-Moldova Service New York correspondent Radu Tudor on April 7
interviewed Wayne Murdy, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Newmont Mining Corporation and board member of the World Economic
Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative about the pervasive
problem of corruption in Romanian business and political circles and
the need for increased transparency, legislation and enforcement
(http://www.europalibera.org/rubrics/ro/2006/04/E82E5F2A-B873-4448-9EAE-2A985E017DC0_2191111.RAM).

...MOLDOVA'S UNFULFILLED PROMISES...
In a program that aired April 6, RFE/RL's Romania-Moldova Service
looked at Moldova's record of unfulfilled promises to the EU and
Council of Europe. The service interviewed Marianne Mikko, a member of
the EU Parliament socialist group and chairwoman of the EU-Moldova
committee, who listed many shortcomings and also expressed concern that
"words are not followed by deeds"
(http://www.europalibera.org/rubrics/ro/2006/04/EBFCABFE-46AF-45A6-B2A4-107D6C75C384_2187556.RAM).

...RUSSIAN BAN ON MOLDOVAN WINES
Broadcasts to Moldova in the first two weeks of April reported
developments in the wine dispute with Russia, which has banned imports
of Moldovan and Georgian wines. RFE/RL received feedback and comments
from Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis, as well as the
Georgian deputy foreign minister and Moldovan Economic Minister Valeriu
Lazar. RFE/RL's Romania-Moldova Service also contacted World Bank
Regional Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Paul Birmingham, to
discuss the economic consequences of the ban.

** The Director of RFE/RL's Romania-Moldova Service, Oana Serafim, may
be reached by email at <serafimo@rferl.org>. The Romania-Moldova
Service's website is at http://www.europalibera.org/; English-language
news about events in Moldova can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/moldova.html and in
Romania at http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/romania.html

GEORGIAN SERVICE FOLLOWS TENSION OVER RUSSIA WINE BAN
RFE/RL Georgian Service Tbilisi correspondent Koba Liklikadze gained an
exclusive interview on April 13 with Georgian Parliament speaker Nino
Burjanadze concerning Russia's decision to suspend Georgian wine
imports. She said unequivocally that the ban was politically motivated:
"The exclusively political nature of the decision regarding [Georgian]
wine is revealed by the decision itself, as well as the actions that
followed it: rejection of the [Georgian] prime minister's visit to
Moscow, refusal by Russia's agriculture minister to meet with his
[Georgian] counterpart [Mikheil Svimonishvili], refusal to discuss this
issue in any way." Burjanadze said Georgia is ready to collaborate with
Russia to find a solution to the situation.The service continued following the story with a report that same
day on Georgian Agriculture Minister Mikheil Svimonishvili's visit to
Moscow to discuss the issue with the Russian foreign ministry. The
Minister was accompanied by a large delegation on his trip to Moscow (a
report on Svimonishvili's Moscow visit can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/4/7669311E-140F-4DA8-B61F-2411E2577945.html).

** The Director of RFE/RL's Georgian Service, David Kakabadze, may be
reached by email at <kakabadzed@rferl.org>. The Georgian Service's
website is at http://www.tavisupleba.org/; English-language news about
events in Georgia can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/georgia.html

RADIO FREE AFGHANISTAN INTERVIEWS PRESIDENT KARZAI...
RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan secured an exclusive interview April 5
with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Broadcasters from the service's
Kabul Bureau met Karzai in his office in the presidential palace for a
wide-ranging interview that lasted more than an hour. Karzai spoke
about his choices for a new cabinet and the confirmation hearings under
way in the Afghan parliament stressing that cabinet choices were based
on qualifications rather than ethnic or gender representation,
defending his decision to include only one woman in the cabinet by
saying that women have been politically empowered with a strong
presence in the parliament. In comments on foreign policy, Karzai
called for closer cooperation with neighboring Pakistan.The bi-lingual conversation aired in Dari and Pashto the same day.
Karzai said he chose Radio Free Afghanistan as the venue for his
remarks because of its large listenership -- over 75 percent weekly
reach in the most recent survey of 31 provinces by Intermedia Survey
Institute -- and what he described as "high quality service to the
people of Afghanistan." A transcript of the interview appeared the next
day in all major Afghan newspapers (an English transcript can be found
on RFE/RL's website at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/04/4461EE3A-A53D-448C-B604-07AA3A02BBF3.html).

...COVERS KARZAI TRIP TO INDIA
A reporter from Radio Free Afghanistan's Kabul Bureau accompanied
President Hamid Karzai on a three-day visit to India April 10-13,
filing daily reports live for broadcast from New Delhi. Karzai met with
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss a range of issues,
mainly aimed at boosting economic ties. India is one of the six top
donors to post-Taliban Afghanistan and has pledged 500 million dollars
in aid since 2002. Karzai traveled with a large delegation, several
members of which gave exclusive interviews to the Radio Free
Afghanistan correspondent. Separate interviews with Minister of Rural
Development and nominee for Minister of Higher Education Hanif Atamar,
Karzai spokesman Karim Rahim; and Afghan Chamber of Commerce President
Azarakhsh Hafizi aired on April 12; another interview with Deputy
Minister of Higher Education Soraya Paikan was broadcast April 11.

** The Director of RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, Akbar Ayazi, may be
reached by email at <ayazia@rferl.org>. Radio Free Afghanistan's
website is located at http://www.azadiradio.org/; English-language news
about events in Afghanistan can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/afghanistan.html

MACEDONIAN PRIME MINISTER AT RFE/RL...
Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski took time out of an official
visit to Prague to give an exclusive interview to the Macedonian
subunit of RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service. In the
interview, which was widely quoted the next day in Balkan media,
Buckovski said Kosovo status negotiations had got off to a sluggish
start but he expected a positive outcome by the end of the year and
emphasized that Belgrade cannot be Macedonia's partner in the
demarcation of its northern border. He said that the problem can be
settled after Kosovo acquires international legitimacy.

...KOSOVAR PREMIER INTERVIEWED ON BALKAN BROADCAST
RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service Kosovo subunit
correspondent Iliriana Bajo interviewed Kosovar Prime Minister Agim
Ceku in Bucharest April 6, following a meeting there of the member
states of the Central European Free Trade Agreement. Ceku spoke about
his presentation to CEFTA and aspirations for "Kosova to be positioned
as a place in Europe, as an integral part of Southeastern Europe." He
said "Northern Kosova is one of the greatest challenges in the Kosova
status-definition talks. We have to admit that despite the serious
number of initiatives, very little has been done for the integration of
minorities. The UNMIK (UN mission on Kosovo), responsible for this
integration, has had a very soft approach towards the parallel
structures of the north, for fear Serbs would leave Kosova" (an English
transcript of the Ceku interview can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/4/BBDD2991-451C-40E2-9A2C-BAB8AA18B796.html).

** The Director of RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service
(SSALS), Omer Karabeg, may be reached by email at <karabego@rferl.org>.
The SSALS website in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian is located at
http://www.slobodnaevropa.org, in Albanian at
http://www.europaelire.org and in Macedonian at
http://www.makdenes.org; English-language news about events in Bosnia-
Herzegovina can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/bosnia-herzegovina.html,
in Macedonia at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/macedonia.html, in Serbia
and Montenegro at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/serbiaandmontenegro.html
and in Kosovo at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/subregion/kosovo.html

ARMENIAN SERVICE FOLLOWS MOSCOW TALKS
RFE/RL's Armenian Service aired an exclusive interview with Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian April 7 during his visit to Moscow for
talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. Oskanian said the
key topic in a wide-ranging discussion of international issues was how
to revive peace talks with Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh after the
fiasco at Rambouillet and that some new ideas on this will be examined
in coming weeks. Oskanian said the other important item on the agenda
was energy and that the discussion was productive (an English report on
Oskanian's Moscow trip can be found at
http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2006/04/98747858-4CBC-4D38-BD2D-C72599A54E4F.asp).

** The Director of RFE/RL's Armenian Service, Hrair Tamrazian, may be
reached by email at <tamrazianh@rferl.org>. The Armenian Service's
website is at http://www.azatutyun.am/; English-language news about
events in Armenia can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/armenia.html

AZERBAIJAN SERVICE FIRST TO TELL LISTENERS OF ALIYEV TRIP TO U.S. ...
RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service broke the news April 5 that president
Ilham Aliyev will go on his first official visit to Washington at the
end of April. Confirmation from the U.S. State Department obtained by a
Prague-based broadcaster made headlines in Azerbaijan for several days.
All Azerbaijani major media carried the news, citing RFE/RL as the
source.
...COVERS STUDENT PROTESTS
A Baku correspondent for the Azerbaijani Service was at the Education
Ministry April 6, talking to students who were picketing the building
in protest of a government move against their university. The students
were from Independent Azerbaijan University (Musteqil Azerbaycan
Universitet, MAU), recently stripped of its license for accepting more
students this year than allowed by quotas set by the government.
Education Minister Misir Mardanov said that no MAU students will be
allowed to graduate this year. The picketing students demanded to be
transferred to other universities or allowed to sit for graduation
exams. They were dispersed by police.

** The Director of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, Abbas Djavadi, may be
reached by email at <djavadia@rferl.org>. The Azerbaijani Service's
website is at http://www.azadses.org/; English-language news about
events in Azerbaijan can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/azerbaijan.html

KYRGYZ SERVICE COVERS SHOOTING OF RIGHTS ACTIVIST...
The April 12 attack on Kyrgyz human-rights activist Edil Baisalov was a
major story for RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, which provided its listeners
daily updates and exclusive interviews, including a bedside interview
with Baisalov in the hospital, as well as panel discussions about the
incident.In an exclusive interview in the Kyrgyz National Hospital April 13
(http://www.azattyk.org/rubrics/politics/ky/2006/04/68637A28-0349-4EF9-B58B-6F6BBEFE4185.ASP),
Baisalov gave a Kyrgyz Service correspondent in Bishkek a graphic
description of how he felt a blow, but did not realize he had been shot
until a passersby came to his aid.Baisalov, head of the Kyrgyz NGO "For Democracy and Civil
Society," had been organizing demonstrations against allowing criminals
to serve in the government. On the day of the shooting, Kyrgyz member
of parliament Melis Eshimkanov told RFE/RL�s Radio Azattyk that
Baisalov had complained to him he was being watched and followed and
had asked for protection and that the Interior Ministry was considering
it. Baisalov's deputy, Jyrgalbek Turdukojoev, also spoke to the Kyrgyz
Service, saying "We believe that this happened because of Edil
Baisalov's very strong political activity."Baisalov and his supporters told RFE/RL they are determined to
continue efforts to reform Kyrgyz society and cleanse politics of
organized crime. They said another rally of democratic forces is set
for April 29. Radio Azattyk also broadcast a U.S. Embassy statement
urging an investigation of the attack and, subsequently, the Kyrgyz
parliament's announcement April 14 that it was assuming control of the
investigation into the attack against Edil Baisalov.

...TALKS TO RICHARD BOUCHER
RFE/RL Bishkek Bureau chief Kubat Otorbayev was one of three
journalists able to interview U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for
South and Central Asia Richard Boucher during his one-day visit to
Kyrgyzstan April 11. Boucher's comments on U.S.-Kyrgyz relations,
domestic reforms, and U.S. views on Uzbekistan were broadcast that day.Asked about the fate of four Uzbek refugees detained in Kyrgyzstan
since they fled Uzbekistan after the Andijon massacre, Boucher said
"These people all deserve the same consideration and the same treatment
as the others who were able to leave. So, we and the United Nations
continue to advocate for them to be considered refugees and allowed to
go through the normal refugee process." On the issue of the Ganci base,
Boucher noted that "the base is very important to us and to Kyrgyzstan
and to the countries of the region to be able to fight the danger of
terrorism that affects all of us. That is why the base is here. That is
why we want it to stay here, and that is why the government wants it to
stay here. We are also prepared to pay the costs of having the base
here." On economic development, he said the U.S. is looking at a lot of
assistance to Kyrgyzstan for development of the economy, but we're also
looking at new ideas and new possibilities of export of Kyrgyz power to
other countries of the south, for example."

** The Director of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, Tyntchtykbek Tchoroev, may
be reached by email at <tchoroevt@rferl.org>. The Kyrgyz Service's
website is at http://www. azattyk.org/; English-language news about
events in Kyrgyzstan can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/kyrgyzstan.html

RADIO FREE IRAQ FOCUSES ON SECURITY CONCERNS...
A correspondent for RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq in Baghdad gained a rare
interview April 12 with the chief of Iraq's Interior Ministry Special
Forces, General Adnan Thabit, who spoke about the results of the
"Operation Scales of Justice" sweep in Baghdad and measures taken to
prevent terrorist groups from impersonating legitimate Iraqi security
forces. General Thabit said that, to date, the operation had netted
"some seven gangs involved in theft and terror acts in the guise of
[security force members affiliated with] the Interior and Defense
Ministries and that new identification badges are being produced that
cannot be forged."General Mahdi al-Gharawi, head of the Law and Order Forces, said
in a separate interview that "Scales of Justice," which started on
April 2, would end when a new government takes office: "Then, 'Scales
of Justice' will terminate and a new plan will be introduced." Al-
Gharawi said the Iraqi Interior and Defense Ministry forces are working
closely together and that the First Brigade of the Iraqi Army is now in
control of the main roads around Baghdad (an English transcript of the
interviews can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/4/5DB638C6-9DBE-4D59-B9AE-7B27B0D78DF8.html).

...NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW GOVERNMENT
On April 2, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq aired separate interviews with
Qasim Dawud, a parliamentary deputy and a member of the independent
bloc within the United Iraqi Alliance, and with Iraqi Accordance Front
leadership member and member of parliament Khalaf al-Ulayyan. Al-
Ulayyan confirmed his bloc�s refusal to accept the nomination of
current Prime Minister al-Ja�fari, saying unequivocally that "al-
Ja�fari is not the man who deserves the leadership for the coming
period." Dawud spoke about the status of the negotiations among the
various political factions in early April, emphasizing that there is
dissent within the alliance and only four out of its seven blocs are
ready to choose a nominee other that al-Ja'fari. Dawud said the next
few days will bring clarity to the official position and a revised
choice of a nominee for the prime minister of the new government (an
English transcript of the interviews can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/4/4D3A772C-DE41-4F9E-8407-73BED24A869B.html).

** The Director of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq, Sergey Danilochkin, may be
reached by email at <danilochkins@rferl.org>. Radio Free Iraq's website
is at http://www.iraqhurr.org/; English-language news about events in
Iraq can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/iraq.html

RELEASED TURKMEN PRISONER THANKS U.S. CONGRESS VIA RFE/RL
Turkmen prisoner of conscience Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev, released after
being incarcerated for two years in a psychiatric institution, spoke to
RFE/RL's Turkmen Service on April 12, his first day out of prison.
Durdykuliev said he owed his freedom directly to the U.S. Congress and
wanted, through RFE/RL, to thank the 54 U.S. Senators and
Representatives who sent a letter last week to Turkmen president
Saparmurat Niyazov urging his release. "Without that letter, I would
still be with them [in the psychiatric ward]," he said.Turkmen authorities placed Durdykuliev in a psychiatric
institution in 2004 after he requested permission to hold a rally
protesting government policies on the same day as celebrations were
scheduled to mark Niyazov's birthday. Prior to his arrest, Durdykuliev
was frequently heard on RFE/RL Turkmen Service broadcasts.During the interview, which was widely quoted in international
media, Durdykuliev told RFE/RL he was detained for two years and two
months with murderers and the criminally insane, and subjected to a
systematic campaign to make him lose his mind -- even though a health
commission had certified he was in good mental health and classified
him as a political prisoner. Durdykuliev said that, for the last three
weeks, he was not allowed hot meals or family visits. Then yesterday,
April 11, Durdykuliev said he was taken out of the hospital, put in a
car and driven more than 13 hours to his home in the town of Nebit Dag,
near the Caspian Sea coast in western Turkmenistan. (A report on
Durdykuliev's release and his interview with RFE/RL's Turkmen Service
can be found on the RFE/RL website, at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/04/19370d5f-a177-4124-acc1-e2b36ca1fb1b.html).

** The Director of RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, Alexander Narodetsky, may
be reached by email at <narodetskya@rferl.org>. English-language news
about events in Turkmenistan can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/turkmenistan.html

RFE/RL REPORTS FROM CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN IMAMS...
Most RFE/RL language services broadcast reports by an RFE/RL Central
News correspondent from a conference in Vienna of Muslim prayer
leaders, or imams, from all over Europe. RFE/RL interviewed several
prominent participants at the three-day event April 7-10, including Dr.
Abduljalil Sajid, chairman of Britain's Muslim Council for Religious
and Racial Harmony. Sajid spoke about Islam's place in Europe and the
identity of European Muslims, stressing that European Muslims are in
Europe to stay: "So they need to play a positive role as citizens, and
we have to educate our people so that the evil of extremism and racism,
Islamophobia, anti-Semitism completely go away. The message is very
clear: we need to create a common platform on common, shared human
values." (An English transcript is available on RFE/RL's website at
http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=04&y=2006&id=AC901AF4-B99F-4673-BB7A-B1E98D4EF0DD.)

** The Executive Producer of RFE/RL's Central Newsroom, Deborah Seward,
may be reached by email at <sewardd@rferl.org>; RFE/RL English-language
news reports can be found at http://www.rferl.org/features/

RFE/RL in the News

RFE/RL TURKMEN CORRESPONDENT SPEAKS OUT
RFE/RL Turkmen Service correspondent Jumadurdy Ovezov gave media
interviews in early April about his early March imprisonment. His April
4 statement, broadcast on RFE/RL stations, was reprinted on
international media websites and widely quoted by human-rights groups
and international media (an English translation of the statement can be
read at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/04/636b5846-6109-4338-a4f3-b29eba57d4b1.html).
Ovezov spent ten days in prison, from March 7-17, along with colleague
Meret Khommadov and was released only after pledging to stop reporting
for RFE/RL.

RFE/RL ANALYST PUBLISHES IN BEIRUT NEWSPAPER
An article analyzing Iranian politics and its nuclear program, by
RFE/RL Iran analyst Bill Samii, appeared in the April 7 edition of
Beirut's "Daily Star"
(http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=10&article_ID=23577&categ_id=5).

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